ORLANDO, Fla. -  No.12 UWF (18-7, 10-1 GSC) fell to Saint Leo (12-12, 7-6 SSC) in four sets and lost a hard fought battle against No.6 Tampa (23-1, 13-0 SSC) in five sets.
Overall the Argos went 0-3 in the 2018 South Region Crossover Tournament.

MATCH ONE: UWF 1, SLU 3

Nadine Williams led the team with 12 kills, followed by Makila York with 10 kills and Jordyn Poppen with eight kills. The Argos played a fairly even match with the Lions statistically, but it was the runs and lack of momentum that led to their loss.

The Argos kept the Lions close in the first set, but never were able to gain a lead. UWF tied the game at 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, but then SLU went running with the lead with back-to-back four-point runs. The Argos went of a three-point run of their own with Ashton Marshall back to serve, but it wasn't enough. The Argos lost set one 25-18.

In the second, UWF was first to score going up 3-0 before the sideout. Logan Kael served a six-point run for the Argos allowing them to build their lead to 14-7 and gained momentum and energy for the team with every point. Saint Leo tried to come back with two short runs of their own, but UWF's lead was too great for the gap to be filled. UWF took set two 25-21 making it a split match 1-1.

UWF trailed in the third set from the start with a large point spread of 11-1. UWF had a short run of four points closing the gap to 14-6. The Argos and the Lions went back-and-forth for the rest of the set, but the damage was already done. SLU won set three 25-15 and took the lead in the match 2-1.

In set four, the Argos started in a eight-point deficit, 9-1. UWF fought their way back into the game with a four-point run with Marshall serving and kills by Poppen and Mackenzie Chrisman to make it a two point set 12-10. SLU gained a quick four points followed by another run of two to cushion their lead again 20-13. UWF fought hard to keep the serve and turn the game around, but SLU won 25-18 and won the match 3-1.

Chrisman led the team in blocks with five for the match. Williams led the defensive with 16 digs on the match followed by Logan Kael with 12 digs.

MATCH TWO: UWF 2 , UT 3

Jordyn Poppen was the Argos' hot hitter for the match with 12 kills followed by JoDee Kovanda with 11 kills and Nadine Williams with nine kills. UWF hit a .211 overall but their best set was the third when the Argos hit a .406.

In the first set, UWF started down 7-3 before the Argos called a timeout to get things settled down. Coming out of the timeout, UWF got a quick sideout and then went on a three-point run off of Chrisman's serves and only trailed by one 8-7. Tampa and West Florida went sideout for sideout up until the score was 19-18 Tampa leading and they went on a three-point run to build a lead 22-18. The Argos didn't quit as they battle back with an error on UT and an ace by Taylor Vaneekeren made it a one point set 23-22. UWF then tied the set 24-24 with a kill by Chrisman from Vaneekeren. UWF then lost the next two points making the final for set one 26-24 UT.

UWF started set two going point for point with Tampa until the set was tied at 15-15. The Argos got the sideout off of a UT service error and then pushed two more points off of a UT error and a service ace by Logan Kael which gave UWF the lead 18-15. The Argos went on one more four-point run to extend their lead 23-18. UWF finished the last two points with a kill by Poppen and an ace by Mackenzie Chrisman finalizing the score 25-19.

Early in the third set, the Argos found themselves in four-point deficit, 8-4, but that didn't last long. UWF was down 12-7 when they got the sideout and Williams went back to serve for UWF and went on a five-point run, tying the set 12-12. The Argos followed that up with three separate three-point runs to further their lead 21-15. The Argo's momentum was unstoppable. UT tried to comeback, but only gained four more points while Brogan Wallin served game point and aced it winning set three 25-19 and putting them ahead on the match 2-1.

The Argo's started set four in the hole again 9-4. UWF gained a couple of points before Tampa went on a five-point run extending their lead 14-6. UWF had their last run of the set scoring two points before UT had a three-point run and then played out the rest of the set finalizing their win 25-15 and then tying the match 2-2.

The start of set five was Tampa getting the first-ball kill and going on a four-point run before UWF could score. In a set to 15, there just isn't enough time to dig out of a 5-0 hole from the start. UWF went serve for serve making it a 7-3 set and then Tampa had another four point run. At 8-3, the teams switched sides and they continued to score three more points putting them ahead of UWF 11-3. The Argos score four more points off of UT errors, but Tampa would finish the set 15-7 and win the match 3-2.

The Argos defense fought hard as Logan Kael led the defense with 18 digs followed by Brogan Wallin with 13 digs. Caleigh Morrison led the team in blocks with six with Poppen and York behind her each with three blocks. Wallin ended the match with 20 assists and Vaneekeren followed her with 17 assists. Three Argos had 2 aces in the match, those being Kael, Wallin and Vaneekeren.

UWF will return to action on Tuesday, October, 23rd when they travel to Carrollton, GA to face West Georgia at 5:00 pm ET.

To continue to keep up with UWF volleyball, you can follow them on Twitter or Instagram @UWFVolleyball or on Facebook at University of West Florida Volleyball.

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